tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151773362017-09-04T17:47:19.082-05:00ErinLindsey's Pile Of YarnErin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-22815363202859536932013-05-01T00:27:00.000-05:002013-05-01T00:27:15.823-05:00I made an afghanIt's one of my rectangle granny squares. Gave it to a neighbor who's had a bad year. <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps8d286153.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps8d286153.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps78ac1e1f.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps78ac1e1f.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps05f18461.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps05f18461.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps791e27f8.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/crochet/image_zps791e27f8.jpg" /></a>Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-48849870483865417472012-10-01T12:34:00.000-05:002012-10-02T02:25:46.621-05:00Lost my blog counterA month or two ago, the counter on my blog quit working...and now the place that I got the counter from is saying that my counter account is going to be deleted because it hasnt counted anything for thirty days. I'm guessing the code or something might no longer be compatible with my blog....or something. Oh well. <BR> <P> <BR> I got that counter in April of 2006, and there's been 143,456 total page views since then, and 107,535 total visits. Not bad for a little over six years of counting visits to my blog. <BR> <P> <BR> I know that there are still people visiting my blog. I still get the occasional comment, and I've had people email me directly too. <BR> <P> <BR> edit: <BR> I went digging around on the settings of my blog, and found the activity counter stuff that only I can see. Surprised me to see that there were actually over 100 page views of my blog today. I didnt know about this particular setting (blogspot/blogger changed a few things a few months ago, and I havent looked at it much lately because I've been busy with my mom being sick and myself being sick) <BR> <P> <BR>At least I can tell that people still wander in to look at my blog occasionally. Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-75076715276157237732012-06-21T00:56:00.000-05:002012-06-21T00:56:39.146-05:00Here's a shawl I finished recently<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="382" width="639" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0249.jpg" /></a> Back in February I discovered the tv show "Sherlock". It's a modern telling of Sherlock Holmes.(stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, and Martin Freeman as John Watson.) The creators of the show took Sherlock Holmes and John Watson and set the show in modern times. (think the first season was filmed in 2010) I fell in love with the show (and both of the main actors) within the 8 minutes of the first episode. A friend of mine had suggested the show, so I'd downloaded the first episode off of iTunes and after the first 15 minutes of the first show, I'd gone back and downloaded the other two. <BR> <P> <BR>In one scene in the first episode, Sherlock is sitting in the back of an ambulance with an orange blanket over his shoulders, and he asks (Detective) Inspector Lestrade why he's got this blanket... Lestrade tells him "It's a shock blanket Sherlock, it's for shock.". Sherlock tells him he's not in shock...and I think that's all I'll say about the scene because I dont want to ruin it for anyone who hasnt watched it yet. <BR> <P> <BR>I joined a group of crocheters and knitters that like the show and anything Sherlock related. Everyone was talking about crocheting or knitting "shock blankets". So I finally decided what to do with a crochet pattern I had floating around as just an idea in my head last fall and wasnt sure what I wanted to do with it or if it would work. I ended up making a "Shock Blanket Shawl". It's basically a very long, extremely wide scarf...or a very long, very narrow afghan. <BR> <P> <BR>The yarn I used is Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn". I really like how this turned out, and the orange is actually kind of nice. It's becoming one of my favorite colors to crochet or knit with. (there may be a knitted scarf coming soon) <BR> <P> <BR>The pattern is fairly quick to do. I'd have been finished with it in just a few weeks if I hadnt had a bit of a vision problem earlier this spring that made me pretty much half blind. (better now) I had to put the shawl down for the better part of a month when it was a little more than half finished. Once I started it back up, I had the shawl finished within a week. <BR> <P> <BR>I'm kind of planning on posting the pattern once I write it up and hopefully have someone test it for me. I've already crocheted a scarf using the same stitch combination (scarf started out as a swatch and I decided to turn it into something useful) <BR> <P> <BR>Here's the rest of the pictures of the shawl. <BR> <P> <BR><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="382" width="639" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0248.jpg" /></a><BR> <P> <BR> <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="639" width="382" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/IMAG0165.jpg" /></a><BR> <P> <BR><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC00471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="480" width="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC00471.jpg" /></a>Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-74591800819012330992012-04-27T03:17:00.003-05:002012-04-27T03:17:48.268-05:00Hope my blog transferred okWas having problems getting the blog transferred over. Hope it worked. Someone please comment if you can and tell me if it's ok?Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-84923357846172051922012-04-27T02:55:00.002-05:002012-04-27T02:55:56.019-05:00possible technical difficulties ahead.Just to warn people, my blog might be about to disappear. Having problems getting it transferred to a new system. If you want to save the two patterns I have posted on here, do it now.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-86966698184697701212010-11-21T03:39:00.001-06:002010-11-21T03:39:04.469-06:00Bathroom RemodelsPosting this for my aunt, she wants to see what we've done. I hope she likes the pictures. <P>I thought I had taken some still pictures of what my bathroom looked like before the remodel. If I did, I cant find them. The video is kind of shaky, and I went pretty quickly with it, but it gives you an idea of what I had before. <P><embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvidmg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv163%2FErinLindsey%2Fhouse%2520remodels%2FVID00001.mp4"> <P>Here's the After pictures! <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/house%20remodels/?action=view&amp;current=DSC04168.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/house%20remodels/DSC04168.jpg" border="0" alt="&amp;quot;After&amp;quot; picture of my shower"></a> <P>The glass in the shower door is called "glue chip". Looks nicer than some of the shower doors you can buy off the shelf at Lowes. It was supposed to be 1/4in glass, but they apparently couldnt find that glass in 1/4in. So the door ended up taking about 3 1/2 weeks to order, and they did it in 3/4in glass. (didnt charge us extra for the 3/4in glass, according to the installer) <br /><br />The glue chip up close looks kind of like a car window that's gotten iced over by an ice storm. I really like the look of it. It's smooth on the inside of the door, so we had to buy squeegees to wipe the water off the door when we're done showering. Big reason we didnt go for clear glass. <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/house%20remodels/?action=view&amp;current=DSC04169.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/house%20remodels/DSC04169.jpg" border="0" alt="&amp;quot;After&amp;quot; picture2"></a> <P>The shower stool in the shower is made out of teak wood. (old sailing ships used to use teak. It's apparently a good wood to use around water) I decided I didnt want to use that shower stool because it wobbles on the sloped shower floor. So, I gave it to my mother to use in her bathroom as a seat to sit on when she's drying off from a shower, or trying to put her shoes on or something. <br /><br />Her shower is a bit bigger than mine, so she could probably use it in there without the stool wobbling as much as it did in my shower. I think she likes it better as a place to sit when drying off tho. I did try it out in my shower a couple of times and just didnt like it. <br /><br />Liked being able to sit down under the spray tho, so I might go out and buy a shower chair that has adjustable legs on it...might be able to fix those so it wouldnt wobble on the sloped floor. <br /><br />The shower wand is left over from my old shower. It's still in good condition so I didnt change that. I am still waiting on a longer pipe for the shower wand to attach to. They lowered the floor, but not the shower pipe. The floor was lowered by several inches, and I'm only five foot four. So, it's kind of a stretch to reach it. When my mom was using my shower for a couple of weeks during the construction of her shower, she couldnt reach the wand. She broke her shoulder back in February, and while that's healed, she has a hard time raising her arm up like that, so I had to leave the shower head sitting on one of the grab bars I had put in the shower. <P>About the grab bars. Reason I had them put in, is because I sometimes have problems with vertigo. Kind of makes it hard to wash your hair and close your eyes and lean your head back to rinse shampoo out of your hair, when closing your eyes and leaning your head back will make you lose all sense of where you are and make you fall down. (that was a long sentence. I hope I got the commas in all the right places) <br /><br />The grab bars were helpful for my mom when she was using my shower, and my dad really liked the idea of having them, so he asked for grab bars in their shower too. Think that was his only big request on his part. (They actually had grab bars in their old shower, but the guy who built their old shower was an effing idiot. He used the wrong kind of screws in their shower. When the contractor took their old shower apart, the screws on their grab bars were rusted thru and were not far from failing completely.) <P>I also had grab bars put on the wall outside of my shower. My shower has 2 horizontal bars and one vertical bar. (vertical is above the horizontal bar and is centered in the middle of the back wall of the shower). There's another vertical bar right outside of my shower and a horizontal one. The horizontal bar makes a great towel bar too. <br /><br />The grab bars are pretty much the entire reason we did the shower remodels. My fiberglass shower insert didnt have studs behind it. (I have pictures to prove it) There's a local pharmacy that installs grab bars, and they said they have special things they use that's supposed to brace grab bars in fiberglass showers. I just didnt trust that they would hold. So my dad had me call a decorator that my aunt (not the same aunt I'm posting these pictures for) knows and she helped us pick out the tile and got us a really good contractor. (first remodel we've ever done where the contractor actually knew what he was doing, had the right skills to do what he was doing well, and didnt take a year plus infinity to do the work)<br /><br />The decorator also helped us pick out new paint colors and new carpeting. My dog TinyMonsters (died in 2006) did a number (#1 and #2 specifically) on our old carpet, and after four years of no dog, our house looked like we still had a dog. (I'll do another post later to show off the new carpet if my aunt wants to see it too)<br /><br />The shelves in the shower are made out of Corian. They're set into the tile. I like how they look. Got the extra shelf so that I'd have an extra storage spot for dry washcloths. The top one is high enough that I can keep the washcloths dry so I can dry my face off if I get soap in my eyes. <P>We also had the floor of my bathroom tiled with the same tile they used in my shower. It turned out really nice. <P>I also got a new toilet for my bathroom. Kind of wish I hadnt. The new one is more environmentally "friendly" and is seriously low flushing. We'll just say that it cant be all that "friendly" to the environment when you have to flush the damn thing 3 times just to get anything to go down. Plus, I'm not used to toilets that burp the water up and then suck it down. Toilets are supposed to swirl the water. I'm a big fan of the Coriolis effect. (now watch, I'll get comments from the greenies who will accuse me of destroying the planet with a swirling flush toilet) <P><br />I'll do another blog post tomorrow with pictures of my mom's bathroom, since she had more stuff done to hers.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-80279373435133799492010-09-22T22:13:00.000-05:002010-09-22T22:13:41.999-05:00Holy crap! I wrote a pattern!Back in April I made my b-in-law some fingerless mitts because his hands were cold. I actually bothered to write down how I did it. I made him two pairs and did the second pair differently than the first pair. So, I'm posting how I did it. <P>I'm not the greatest pattern writer. I had to have help with the rectangle granny square to make it readable and understandable. So, if these patterns are a bit confusing, I'm sorry. I didnt ask anyone to help me with writing these out. I pretty much wrote them out as I was making them, and saved them in Word until I decided tonight to post this. <P><BR> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03895.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03895.jpg" border="0" alt="fingerless mitts"></a> <BR> <P><br />(this is the first pattern, wrote it out kind of basic)<br /><br />Fingerless mitt<br /><br />Chain 25<br /><br />Hdc in each sts for 9 rows<br /><br />Row 10: chain 2, hdc for 5 sts, ch 2, sk 2 sts, hdc in each sts to end of row<br /><br />Rows 11 to 18, hdc in each sts till you have 18 rows<br /><br />Fold lengthwise and sew or crochet up the side to finish off.<br /><br /><P><BR> (this is the second version. Basically the same as the first one, except that I changed the chain-up part from a chain-2 to a chain-1.) <P><br />Fingerless Mitts<br />(Make two)<br /> <br />Foundation Row: Chain 25<br /><br />Row 1: half double crochet in 2nd chain from hook, half double crochet in each st to end of row.<br /><br />Row 2: Chain 1 loosely. (you don’t really need height on this one, and just doing a loose ch-1 gives you enough height, and you dont end up with that loopy look on the ends that a ch-2 gives you sometimes) Half double crochet in each st till end of row.<br /><br />Work in pattern to Row 10. <br /><br />Row 10: (thumbhole row) ch 1, hdc in next 5 sts, ch 2, skip next 2 sts, hdc in next st. Hdc in each st to end of row. <br /><br />Rows 11 to 18: hdc in each sts to Row 18. <br /><br />Fold lengthwise and sew or slip stitch up the side to make a tube. <br /><br />(Optional) You can crochet around the edge of the openings to give it a more finished look. I did that for one pair of fingerless mitts I made for my brother-in-law. I didnt care for the edging on the ends of the mitts tho) <P><P>I took pictures, but then over the summer I was a bit sick, and now dont remember which of the mitt pictures I took was which. I used the same color yarn for both pairs, and I guess now it doesnt really matter which one was made first. At least you can get a basic idea of what they looked like when I was finished. <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03901.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03901.jpg" border="0" alt="fingerless mitts"></a> <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03888.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03888.jpg" border="0" alt="fingerless mitts"></a> <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03894.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03894.jpg" border="0" alt="fingerless mitts"></a> <P><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03896.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03896.jpg" border="0" alt="fingerless mitts"></a>Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-22650673129150004482010-09-17T00:48:00.000-05:002010-09-17T00:48:06.343-05:00I watch too much HGTV(wow...3 new posts from me in one night...)<br /><br />Ok, I did a remodeling project in my bedroom last winter. (had a fancypants desk built custom for me) and then this summer, my parents and I decided we needed to remodel the bathrooms. (their bathroom really needed it. The guy who remodeled their bathroom in 2005 was a complete moron. Bathroom building is apparently a skill...at least according to Mike Holmes on "Holmes on Homes").<br /><br />So, my bathroom was the first one to get re-done. No pictures yet, I'm waiting for the shower doors to arrive and for the shower head to get put back on, plus we have to repaint (the entire house) and re-carpet (the entire house). The house has needed some new paint and carpet for quite awhile. (my dog, TinyMonsters, has been dead since 2006 and it still looks like we have a live dog living here) Plus, after having my desk built in my bedroom, my bedroom still needs new paint, and my carpet was ripped up a bit by the desk installer. So, my room still needs to be finished too.<br /><br />We cut out the cheesy fiberglass shower insert that the bathroom came with when it was built. ("we" meaning the contractor got out his sawz-all and surgically removed it in small pieces). I picked out some new tile, and some tile installers came and built a new shower floor (properly waterproofed!) and tiled the walls from floor to ceiling. Oh, and I got a new tile floor in the bathroom to match. About the only thing I didnt change in the bathroom is the sink and cabinet. (bye bye old toilet, getting a new one soon!) <br /><br />I picked out my shower door today. (changed my mind on the doors my mom had picked out for us the other day. I found out how much mine was going to cost and had a serious attack of "whaaat? How much?!?". So, I went back to the glass store this afternoon and got one that was priced a little more realistically. My mom still gets her INSANELY PRICED shower door for their master bath, since I was able to pick out a nice door for half the price of the one mom had picked out for me, and my dad will stop crying uncontrollably about how much that door was going to cost. I swear, he looked so happy this morning when I told him I was going to cancel the freakishly expensive door and get a cheaper one. <br /><br />It's amazing how guilty I felt over the cost of that door. My dad had told them go ahead and get it, and I just had this worrying guilt over how much it cost in the bottom of my stomach. I just couldnt do it. The contractor seemed a bit annoyed with me when I called him this morning to tell him I was changing it. <br /><br />The doors that my mom had picked out for both bathrooms was 3/4 inch clear glass. (they had 1/4 inch glass for a little less, which was what we'd decided to put into my bathroom until I panicked about the price). When I got to the glass store, I picked out an opaque glass called "Glue Chip" (yeah, I dont know what that means either) that kind of reminds me either of ice crystals forming on a car windshield, or of fossils of leaves in rocks. <br /><br />My mom will still get her clear glass shower doors, which I think is ok, since she's got the master bathroom and it would probably look really cool with clear glass doors...and I'll have glass doors that I wont have to squeegee after every shower to keep them clean. <br /><br />I'll probably post a few pictures of the before and after pictures of my bathroom once I get the doors installed and the shower head put back up. I love the tile. I cant wait to wash my hair in the new shower. I hate my parents current shower. It was poorly made, and "probably" not properly waterproofed. (eeeeek!! I'm afraid to see what happens when they rip up the old tile in there) The walls are made of marlite (kind of a fake marble looking stuff) and when the contractor was looking at that shower, he reached up and wiggled the top of the marlite walls and freaked when the wall wiggled. The moron who installed those walls five years ago apparently didnt use any adhesive (and probably no Durock, concrete board) behind the marlite...we're pretty sure the only thing holding up the marlite is my mom's grab bars. <br /><br />and since this is a crocheting blog, I'll mention that I havent gotten much done crochet or knit-wise this summer. I made a couple of shawls, and am mostly finished with a giant granny square afghan. I started another new shawl with some sparkly yarn the other day and that's half finished. Bought more of the sparkly yarn (Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" Royalty Blue with sparkle) and am considering an afghan with that. <br /><br />Also got some "I Love This Cotton" from HL and crocheted and finished a pineapple doily with that earlier this summer. My aunt starched it for me and it actually looks pretty cool, even if it is made in crochet cotton and not crochet thread. <br /><br />I discovered Knitpicks earlier this year. (well, I knew about them for a few years, but then I actually bought some stuff and fell in love with their needles). I started a practice sock from the toe up on 40in circs. I have a toe and part of a foot, but havent gotten much past that. I may have a sock in a few years. I bought so many knitting needles I needed storage for that, so I went to WalMart and bought myself a toolbox to keep them in. Then I kind of hurt my right hand and didnt do much in the way of crocheting or knitting over the past few months. Hand is getting better, so hopefully I'll be cranking out some stuff soon...probably not that sock, but maybe a few more crocheted shawls.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-61059535365801481412010-09-16T23:55:00.002-05:002010-09-17T00:03:03.736-05:00Ok, I think I fixed it.I checked the settings, and I dont know what happened to my blog. I dont know if Blogspot changed something in the past few months and I didnt notice it, or what. Somehow my blog had the archives hidden, so every post I'd written for the past five years was not showing up. <P> After I got done panicking, thinking I'd lost every thing, I dug into the dashboard of the blog a little bit, and I think I fixed the archive stuff, and whatever was translating my blog titles into Hindi was some setting for transliteration. (WTF?) <P> I think I got that fixed too, since the title for this blog post seems to be in English (for me at least) <P> It's been a long annoying summer (annoying health problem bugging me that made me ignore my blog for quite awhile. I'm fine, btw) <P> I didnt realize there was a problem until someone emailed me to ask if I'd closed my blog. <P> No, my blog is not closed. I dont know what happened to the settings, and hopefully that doesnt happen again. Can someone comment on my blog and tell me if things look ok? <br /><br />Thanks!Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-36669213743530776942010-09-16T23:44:00.003-05:002010-09-16T23:51:17.770-05:00ओके, थिस इस वेइर्द.I was starting to type up this post, and when I typed in the title, the English letters turned into what looks like Chinese. Totally weird. Hope my blog isnt having a problem. <br /><br />Can someone post a comment to me telling me if my blog is readable (in English) and tell me how far back my posts go, because I got an email from someone earlier today saying that a bunch of my posts are missing.<br /><br />edited to add:<br /><br />I googled the weird text in the title of my post, and had it translated. It translates out to what I actually typed. (should say "ok, this is weird", and it's apparently in Hindi. <br /><br />I'm not Hindu. I've never been to India, (American and damned proud of it too!) and I dont know why my blog would suddenly have it's titles being translated into Hindi. This is just freaking weird! <br /><br />if I have to, I'll start a new blog somewhere, but I'm going to see what the hell is going on with this one.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-25949345514123825262010-09-11T01:39:00.000-05:002010-09-11T01:43:54.728-05:009.11.2001, Nine years later.<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/stuff/?action=view&current=fdny_flag_3.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/stuff/fdny_flag_3.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <P> Apparently we've forgotten about it. It's still a big hole in the ground. When I say "we", I mean "they"...whoever's in charge of rebuilding the WTC and building the memorial. Because there's probably going to be a mosque built there long before the towers or the memorial are built. <P>I havent forgotten.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-79083071475505403422010-02-13T01:03:00.000-06:002010-02-13T01:45:04.066-06:00As requested, a picture!My aunt has just requested that I post a picture of my brand new desk with the tv actually on the wall. <br /><br />Ok... Here you go! <P> (There are actually more books in my bookcase now than there were when I took this picture.) <br /><br /><P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03743.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03743.jpg" border="0" alt="my new desk, with the tv finally on the wall!"></a> <P> <br /><br />It was a bigger pain in the ass to get that damn tv on the wall than it was to have the desk built! <P> I had bought the mount for the tv from a popular electronic store that sends Geeky people out to do installs and to set up computers and stuff. Buying the mount was easy, the installation was a major f-up. <P> The guy came out and drilled four holes in my wall. He screwed the mount to the wall, and then he couldnt get the tv to go on the wall. The outlet with the power cord for the tv was in the way. The cord stuck out too far when it was plugged into the wall. <P> So, the kid told me that the electricians had put the outlet in the wrong spot, and that I was to have them come back out and move it. (and rip the wall to pieces) <P> I was pissed. I called the electricians and they came out a couple of days later. They looked at the wall, and looked at the tv. They measured the wall, and where the studs were, and measured the tv. <P> The moronic little Geek measured the damn tv wrong! He measured the tv from the bottom of the stand (that it would no longer be using) to the top of the tv. He SHOULD have measured from the bottom of the tv to the top of the tv. Moron! <P> The electricians looked at my wall, where the kid had drilled into it, and said that he hadnt drilled into the studs. I remember him saying that he couldnt find the studs. He even had a fancy electronic stud finder and he couldnt find them! The electricians found the studs in a microsecond by tapping on the wall with a knuckle. <P> All that moron had to do was look under the shelf that runs below my tv...there are two screws that are 16 inches apart...that's where the studs are. Geek was a dumbass. <P> So, I had the electricians hang my tv. Paid more, but that tv is NOT coming off that wall. If the Geek had managed to get it hung on the wall, it would have fallen. Because the kid had not drilled thru the studs, and was going to hang it with these plastic things that look like really cheap zip ties and a few bolts, there's no way in hell that my 30+ pound 32in LCD tv was going to be supported. It would have ripped right thru the drywall. <P> I sit right below where the tv hangs when I'm sitting at my desk. It potentially could have killed me if I'd allowed the moron to hang it. <P> So, the electricians started to get ready to hang the tv. They hit a big wrinkle pretty quickly. The Geek had stolen the big bolts that were supposed to screw into the studs. <span style="font-style:italic;">facepalm!</span> <P> They went up to Home Depot and bought some big huge silvery colored bolts and nuts and washers...later, when they realized the holes the kid had drilled would show they went up to Lowes to buy some pre-painted wood boards to cover the holes and also make the tv stick out a little farther because the audio/video plugs were going to stick out too far on the back of the tv (kind of the same problem the kid had with the power cord sticking out too far earlier) <P> They bolted the boards on the wall, and then bolted the mount onto those boards (everything into the studs). That tv is not coming down. If I ever move, that tv becomes negotiable. (technically I can take it down, that mount isnt moving tho) But, the space in the wall was designed around the size of the tv. <P> Now that the tv is up, and not in danger of dropping on my head, I love it. I can sit in bed and watch tv. It looks GREAT! I had my dad's sister-in-law here last night to see the desk after I had some paint touched up where the colors didnt match, and she thought my room looked so much bigger than it did before. I have a better use of space, I have room for my crochet and knitting books and my computers... It's really comfortable to sit at. I've actually finished a couple of crochet projects and am almost done with a knitting project now that I have a great place to sit and do computer stuff while I'm crocheting or knitting...and it looks REALLY GOOD! <P> I just need to get my walls painted, fix a few spots on the wall on the other side of the room that TinyMonsters scratched up when he'd sleep with his feet against the wall, and where there was some drywall damage from the house settling or something. I have no idea what color to paint the room, and I really need new carpeting. (5yrs of big, oily black dog that had a vomiting problem did a number on the floor) My cousin gave me the phone number of a girl who painted her house. I'm calling the painter on monday. Probably wont paint till spring tho. I'm going shopping for carpeting as soon as I figure out what paint color I want to do. <P> I cant wait to get the paint and the carpet. I just dont want to have to move my bed to get the carpet or the paint. (it was a pain just to get the bed in the room) That's going to be another logistical nightmare. Even with the scuffed up walls and the dingy carpeting on the floor, I really love my room now. Real living space and storage. YAY! <P> I should mention, after all the problems with the Geek and the tv install, I did call at bitch at his managers. I didnt care for their response. I wont ever use that blue and yellow signed company that hires geeks to ever do anything like hang a tv ever again. I already wont let them touch my computers because they screwed up a few of my older computers. If I ever have to hang another tv, I'll just hire an electrician or a carpenter or a handyman to do it for me. Someone who knows more than the 19yr old kid who was probably more interested in how he was going to illegally obtain some alcohol that night than hanging my tv safely.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-17784341221696133002010-01-08T01:20:00.000-06:002010-01-08T01:34:05.082-06:00There goes a favorite Omaha restaurant.Tonight (thursday) the best bagel store in Nebraska, The Bagel Bin, is gone. <P> It caught fire around 10pm. Last I heard, it was a 3 alarm fire, and the roof had collapsed. The fire started in the Bagel Bin, and spread to a few other businesses that were in the small strip mall that it was in. <P> No word if anyone was inside (they cook the bagels at night). I hope no one was inside. <P> My mom knows the owner. We love the bagels that we got at that place. Actually made a special trip there on Christmas eve to get a dozen so that we'd have stuff for munchies over Christmas. <P> I hope no one was hurt, and that all the firefighters dont have any major problems fighting the fire. (they've got a big problem, the cold...dangerous windchills tonight, and high winds) <P> I'm going to miss the Bagel Bin if they dont rebuild. I hope she does tho...It would be sad if the only bagels available in town were from Panera. Panera's bagels are NOT bagels...that's just fancy bread. Bagel Bin made true bagels!Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-83642452994881429042010-01-06T22:03:00.000-06:002010-01-06T23:30:16.834-06:00(picture intensive) A remodeling project...with before and after pictures.Earlier this fall, I started to wish I had a new desk for my computers. You'll probably understand why when I show you this. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03432.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03432.jpg" border="0" alt="The &amp;quot;Before&amp;quot; picture."></a> <P> Scary isnt it? <P> You wouldnt believe all the dust that was...dusting those cabinets and pretty much everything in the room. No wonder I couldnt breathe...and interestingly enough, the dust was the SAME color as my dog's hair. (the dog has been dead since March of 2006.) I must have gotten "dog hair lung" or something. I can breathe much better, and sleep much better since we got the dust and the dog hair out of the room. (I could have built myself a brand new dog out of what I found on the floor and in the desks. I still havent cracked open my Gateway computer to clean that out. (I'm afraid to look) <P> So, I asked my dad if I could get a built-in desk for Christmas. Surprised the hell out of me when he said "yes.". (maybe I should have asked for a fancy new car???). So, I went to a company here in Omaha called <a href="http://www.consolidatedkitchens.com/">Consolidated Kitchens & Fireplaces</a>. There I got to pick out what kind of wood I wanted, and the desktop. A designer drew up a design for my desk that would give me a lot of nice storage, a place to hang my tv on the wall, and a nice bookcase. It was really a cool experience. It's the same company that built all the cabinets in our house when my dad bought this place in the early 2000's. They'd built a cabinet/fireplace wall for my aunt across the street last year, and I was impressed with what they did for her. Since they'd done all of our cabinetry, I figured they'd be able to match our existing woodwork too. My desk doesnt quite match the other cabinets. I purposefully wanted it to look different, but we also had a couple of linen cabinets put in that I had them match to the bathroom cabinets. The linen cabinet was supposed to be a big double sided cabinet, but it turned out that it wasnt going to fit in the space. The installer suggested that he put one half in for my linen cabinet, and he'd install the other half upstairs wherever we wanted it. (it came in two pieces, so just using half didnt make it look weird in the space. It's perfect for me) <P> For the desk, I wanted something that would work well in the space that I had. At the time I hadnt yet cleaned up the craptastic mess and didnt know that I actually had a lot of space under that pile of dust and crap. I knew I wanted it to fit in the corner, that way I could get the most use out of the space. <P>So, I had to get a friend (and a friend of his) to move one of the desks for me, they got one of the desks out of the room. The other desk just kind of sat in the room, holding me back. I went to Walgreens and bought some little plastic disks that I put under the corners of the desk and used them to slide it out of the room. Best $6 I've ever spent. The plastic sliders worked GREAT! <P> I'm pretty proud of the fact that I was able to move it myself. (and while I was injured too. Hurt a disc in my neck a month before) The sliders made it so easy to move the desk. (and the cabinet in the hall outside my bedroom that was going to be replaced with the built-in linen cabinet.) <P> The old linen cabinet is still sitting out in the middle of the family room where I dragged it. That old desk is sitting next to it, waiting (forever) for the person I gave it to to be able to come pick it up. (we have 3 feet of snow outside, so there's no moving it out thru the back door right now) <P> So after I got everything out, this is what it looked like <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03514.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03514.jpg" border="0" alt="Almost empty space"></a> <P> Not such a scary spot now, is it? <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03518.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03518.jpg" border="0" alt="more open space"></a> <P> About two weeks before Christmas, the installer showed up and started to put things together. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03524.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03524.jpg" border="0" alt="in progress"></a> <P> Here it is, laying on the floor, waiting for assembly. <P> <BR> <P> Then things magically appeared on the wall. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03525.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03525.jpg" border="0" alt="Oooo! cabinetry!"></a> <P>...and on the floor <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03530.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03530.jpg" border="0" alt="more cabinetry!"></a> <P> Then the really cool part. My desktop is made out of a manufactured stone. So they had to do very precise measurements to make it. They used a special digital camera and little stickers with black dots on them. The measuring guy put the dot stickers all over the desk, and took pictures of the desk. <P> Then he took the pictures back to his office, and loaded the pictures into a special computer program that maps out the dots and calculates the measurements for the desktop. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03536.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03536.jpg" border="0" alt="Dotted cabinets"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03538.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03538.jpg" border="0" alt="More dots"></a> <P>...and more dots. <P> We now pause for Christmas... <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03634.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03634.jpg" border="0" alt="Christmas!"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03610.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03610.jpg" border="0" alt="and a blizzard. "></a> <P> and a blizzard... (We got TWO feet of snow in that storm!) The blizzard and Christmas both happened at the same time. It snowed from Christmas eve, until the Sunday after that. Four days of heavy snow. I really hate winter...argh! <P> Yesterday, my desktop arrived. It was a cold morning, and you could see the condensation on the desktop when they placed it on the desk. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03695.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03695.jpg" border="0" alt="desktop day"></a> <P> Another view... <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03699.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03699.jpg" border="0" alt="another angle"></a> <P> Along with the base of the bookcase. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03703.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03703.jpg" border="0" alt="Base of the bookcase"></a> <P> Not finished, but I couldnt resist sitting at it last night. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03706.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03706.jpg" border="0" alt="still not finished.."></a> <P> Today, the installer came and finished the desk. He brought the bookcase with him, and some crown molding. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03707.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03707.jpg" border="0" alt="Finally, a bookcase!"></a> <P> SHELVES!! <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03709.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03709.jpg" border="0" alt="Oooo! Shelves!"></a> <P> And here is the "after" picture. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/?action=view&current=DSC03714.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/Remodeling%20project/DSC03714.jpg" border="0" alt="And finished!"></a> <P> It's a big improvement from the "before" picture isnt it??? <P> Tomorrow, weather permitting (it's snowing again, damnit!) they'll be coming to drill some grommet holes in the desk so that I can run power cords and keyboard cords around. Next week, my tv will be mounted on the wall in the big square shaped open space above the desk. I'm so excited with this desk. I've finally got tons of storage space in my room. I've got a grown up room now! <P> I'm pretty sure that I've got room for my iMac and my Gateway computer that were under all that crap on the desks in the "before" picture, along with space for me to be able to use my sewing machine without having to juggle things about for space to work. I have file cabinets to keep printouts of crochet and knitting patterns. One of the cabinets is going to be where I keep my crochet hooks and knitting needles and other yarn-ish accessories. The cabinet below the bookcase is probably going to be where I store my sewing machine when I'm not using it. Other than that, I dont know what I'm going to put in the cabinets. <P> My crochet and knitting books will finally have their own home on the bookcase, rather than floating around the basement. <P> Our house has needed to be painted since it was built (builders used paint that's more like liquid chalk, it scrapes off so easily if you look at it wrong), and after TinyMonsters left his mark (among other things) on the carpeting, we need new carpet. My dad said that I could get my room painted and some new carpeting. <P> I think I can get away with buying a remnant for the carpeting if I can find a good deal on something nice. Tiny had pretty much lived in my room after we moved here, and so my floor got a heck of a beating from him. So did the walls. <P>I want to paint my room a different color, but I'm not sure what color to use. I'm going to try to stay in the same color family as the Beige-land that we've got going on in the house, but I might try a slightly darker shade. I just need to find a painter who knows what they're doing, and decide on a carpet color other than the white that our carpet was before TinyMonsters "autographed" it. (repeatedly) <P> I think I'm going to wait for spring/summer to do the carpet and painting. I've had enough of construction for the time being. I think I'll have fun with picking out colors for the carpet and the paint. Plus, with all the nasty weather, I just dont feel like driving down to the carpet store or the paint store in all the snow. <P> This new desk is probably the nicest Christmas present my dad has ever gotten me. (I didnt get much else for Christmas because of the desk) It's also the nicest piece of furniture that I've ever had. (not sure if you can call it "furniture" if it's a permanent fixture attached to the wall) This desk is light years better than the desk he built for me when I was little. That desk was an old door he got from the hospital he worked at. He cut the door in half, sanded the wood down and stained and then attached to the wall so that I could raise and lower that desk whenever I wanted to. That was great for me at the time. :) <P> I think I'm going to have a blast with my new desk. I love this thing. It's making me want to go back to school so that I can do homework at it. <P> The installer for the desk did excellent work...didnt leave much of a mess for me to clean up. A little sawdust... <P> I was bummed having to wait about 3 weeks between getting the cabinetry built and getting the desktop...last week I was having second thoughts on the color of the wood...Once the desktop was installed yesterday, I felt a lot better about my color choices. It looks great. I just cant wait to get my tv off the floor and into it's new home so I wont be afraid of smashing it...plus it's just in the way where it is. Once it's off the floor I'll be able to use my Tivo again, and watch movies using my iMac and an HDMI cable on the tv. <P> I had a blast picking everything out for my desk. I watch a lot of those home improvement shows on HGTV with my mom, and love seeing this kind of stuff being done. So, it was cool to get to do a remodel myself. Before this, my biggest remodel that was for me was new carpeting in my room at our old house, and taking the doors off my closet and putting my tv in the closet there to give me the illusion my claustrophobic bedroom there was larger. (the illusion didnt help me much) While it was fun, it was a bit disruptive to have things torn apart for a few weeks. Especially over Christmas. It's part of the reason I didnt put up my patriotic Christmas tree. We bought a topiary tree from Sam's Club instead and I put $6 worth of plastic ornaments from Target on it with a ribbon bow on top. <br /><br />I'm glad everything is done, except for my grommet holes and the hanging tv. (and the carpet and painting) I think I'm going to go to sleep now. (sorry this blog post is so huge and image intensive. I just didnt want to break it up into two posts)Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-31600807955339469902009-11-24T01:04:00.000-06:002009-12-27T22:37:18.387-06:00A little poem about our lawmakers and healthcare.I found this on the internet somewhere...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">‘Twas the night before Christmas<br />And all through the Senate<br />Some morons passed health care<br />But couldn’t defend it.<br /><br />Conservatives were weary,<br />And leftists were tired<br />From voting on garbage<br />That would get them all fired.<br /><br />On Boxer! On Arlen! On Bennet, and Reid!<br />Go spend all our money on crap we don’t need!<br /><br />On Landrieu! On Casey, Akaka, and Bayh!<br />When Obamacare passes we’re all gonna die!<br /><br />When 2010 comes and this stupid bill passes,<br />Don’t let the door hit you on your sad liberal asses.</span>Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-30452570181934632382009-10-01T23:27:00.000-05:002009-10-01T23:30:21.043-05:00Another video from PJTV that I enjoyed.<a href="http://www.pjtv.com/v/2515">http://www.pjtv.com/v/2515</a>Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-55932465129860279172009-09-11T09:06:00.000-05:002009-09-11T09:57:52.711-05:00September 11thIf you ever start to feel sorry for a terrorist who's been waterboarded. Remember the people, like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man">Jonathan Briley</a>, on September 11th who chose to jump from the World Trade Center rather than burn to death after terrorists crashed airplanes into the WTC. <P> Remember <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Cosgrove">Kevin Cosgrove</a>, who was on the telephone with 911 at the time the South Tower collapsed on him. (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbOzSeu6sJA">link </a>to audio. May be disturbing. I only listened to it once, which is why I'm warning you and not embedding the YouTube video on my blog) <P> The next time someone says that it was 8 years ago, you should forget about September 11th. Tell them to f...well...ignore them. But don't forget September 11th. <P> <a href="http://www.pjtv.com/video/Klavan_on_Culture/_September_11%2C_2009/2411/">Link </a>to an Andrew Klavan video on PJTV titled <em>September 11th 2009</em> Just because I thought it was a good video. <P> Remember <a href="http://www.silive.com/september11/lr/index.ssf?/september11/lr/dipasquale.html">FireFighter George DiPasquale</a>, FDNY Ladder Company 2. FF DiPasquale and Ladder Company 2 died September 11th, 2001. <P> A few months after 9-11-2001, I bought a bracelet with FF DiPasquale's name on it. (the bracelet was randomly chosen and sent to me. I never knew him) I wear it every September 11th to remember him and all the firefighters who died that day. It's believed that he was in Tower 2 when it collapsed. His daughter was only a toddler when he was killed.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-11810534184152535882009-06-27T00:04:00.000-05:002009-06-27T00:18:10.898-05:00I hate being the bad guy.Last week my parents and I adopted a puppy. <P> The day after adopting the puppy, I had a bad allergy attack to the dog (he'd slept in my room, in his crate, that night) <P> Because of the allergy, I wanted to try to take the puppy back before my mom got too attached to the dog. I was convinced tho, to give it a little while and see if the allergy would get better. <P> Today, after a week of being miserable with the allergy, I had a talk with my dad. He agreed (finally!) that we should probably find the puppy a new human. Our next door neighbor has a friend who just recently lost her dog, and wants a new one. So, the puppy's new human will be coming tomorrow to pick him up. <P> I really hate being the bad guy on this. My mom really liked this dog, and I liked him too, but I just hate the way I feel while being allergic to him. It's also ticking me off that people say I cant be allergic to him, since he's a poodle and that poodles are "hypoallergenic". That's a bunch of dog poop. There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. There are dogs, that are less likely to trigger an allergy, but all dogs can cause an allergy. <P> Here's a picture or two of him, to show how cute he was. <BR> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/?action=view&current=img1245733947124.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/img1245733947124.jpg" border="0" alt="Sprint PictureMail"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/?action=view&current=img1245734103901.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/img1245734103901.jpg" border="0" alt="Sprint PictureMail"></a> <BR> <P> The pictures are crappy cellphone pictures. I took a few pictures of him with my other camera, and might post pictures the next time I post a blog entry.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-33881201456447301742009-05-26T18:22:00.000-05:002009-05-26T18:25:19.142-05:00ok, this is cool.I just moderated a comment on my blog with my cellphone, AND I'm writing this post with my cellphone. I love technology!Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-20786943498411367002009-05-14T02:54:00.000-05:002009-05-14T03:18:40.063-05:00yes, I'm still alive...just neglecting my blogIt's probably a good thing I dont have a new dog yet, I'd probably be neglecting it as much as I've neglected my blog this winter. <br /><br />Not a whole lot new and exciting here. I finished an afghan that I'd started last fall. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03178.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03178.jpg" border="0" alt="Log Cabin Quilt afghan"></a> <P> <BR> We installed a new fireplace in our basement after last fall/winter's exciting little episode with the old fireplace. <BR> <P> and my dad finished a few afghans he was knitting. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03167.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03167.jpg" border="0" alt="Dad made this one too!"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC03111.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC03111.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <P> <BR> and I think that's pretty much it. <br /><br />The afghan I made is crocheted, and it was the Log Cabin Quilt pattern on the Lion Brand web site. (too lazy to look for the link right now) I used Bernat Berella "4" to make it. <br /><br />The knitted afghans that my dad made were done with Lion Brand Thick & Quick (wool blend I think?) The one on my bed with my Kindle reading sock monkey was done in strips. My dad just did garter stitch back and forth and just changed colors when he felt like it. No planning to it at all. I dont think any of the colors repeat in that afghan, and he just basically stuck his hand into his yarn stash and pulled up a color. <P> The other afghan was also done in strips, and it's some sort of a feather & fan pattern. He learned how to knit when he was stationed in Alaska in the 1960s. He ran out of comic books to read so one of the nurses taught him how to knit. She showed him that pattern and he memorized it. I'm amazed he can remember it so many years later. <P> The F&F afghan was sort of a scrap afghan. It started out that way, and then he ran out of scraps from the first afghan, so we had to go to the store to buy yarn. He would knit 10 repeats (or was it rows?) of the pattern until he had the length he wanted. Then he just sewed the strips together. He put a lot more planning into this afghan than the first one, because he wanted the F&F afghan to look good. I think it turned out great. I almost claimed it, but decided that it would be nice to send to my sibling, so my dad shipped it to my sibling's family. <P> I crocheted the edgings onto both of his knitted afghans. He wanted them to look a bit more finished, and I dont think he remembers how to crochet. (I think he knew how to single crochet at one point, because one of my first crochet hooks was his! I still have it. But, he might have used the crochet hook to fringe some afghans) I'm trying to teach him how to crochet, but he's better at knitting with two sticks than crocheting with one hook. <br /><br />I need to get him to teach me how to do the feather and fan pattern. So far all I really do with knitting is knit and purl. But nothing fancy.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-5246323426920503212008-11-30T00:10:00.000-06:002008-11-30T00:15:54.884-06:00Finished a few things.Here's some pictures. <P> Seraphina shawl. Made in Bernat Berella "4" <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC02828.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC02828.jpg" border="0" alt="Seraphina shawl"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC02829.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC02829.jpg" border="0" alt="Seraphina shawl"></a> <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC02830.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC02830.jpg" border="0" alt="Seraphina shawl"></a> The waffle stitch afghan is finished. <P> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/?action=view&current=DSC02767.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/ErinLindsey/more%20crochet%20pictures/DSC02767.jpg" border="0" alt="Waffle Stitch afghan"></a> <P> <BR> I'm tired, so that's it for this blog post.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-83227254805655604482008-11-21T14:45:00.000-06:002008-11-21T21:12:10.640-06:00Check your smoke detectorsFirst off, to any relatives reading this. We're OK!!! <P> Last night, around 2am, our smoke detectors went off. Apparently the ventless gas fireplace in our basement was malfunctioning some how. Not sure exactly what was wrong, but when I ran out of my bedroom to see what was going on, there was a rather impressively scary-big flame in the fireplace. <br /><br />We were thinking it was the CO detectors at first, but apparently it was the actual smoke detectors. (good thing we changed those batteries a few weeks ago!) <br /><br />Since we had thought it was the CO detectors, my dad came downstairs and turned off the gas feed to that fireplace and then we'd called 911 (just in case) and sat outside in the cold (19 degrees! and this is an important detail later) <br /><br />After I'd called 911, I called my aunt that lives across the street, because I didnt want her to worry when a fleet of fire engines showed up in the street. Good thing I called her. She has a brand new furnace, and apparently it was having a problem last night (she had more smoke in her house than we did!) <br /><br />Her smoke detectors never went off, and she was feeling sick. So, it's probably a good thing we were having a problem too and that our alarms were blowing out our eardrums. <br /><br />She told me about the problem, and the FD wasnt here yet, so I didnt even bother to call them back about her house. As soon as they got here, I asked one of the firefighters to go to my aunts house with me to check it out too. (not sure what they did find, but she's getting her furnace checked today) <br /><br />The Omaha Fire Department was so cool. I had felt silly about calling them because other than the large flame in the gas fireplace that went away after we turned off the gas feed to it, we didnt see a problem. But I'm glad that I called now, since my aunt was feeling so sick. (I was dizzy in my basement for about an hour before our alarms went off) <br /><br /><br />But, we're all ok now, so I'm basically just doing this blog post to remind everyone to check their smoke detectors, and if you dont have carbon monoxide detectors, get to a store and get a couple.<br /><br />and if they ever go off, dont just knock them off the wall and go back to sleep (I think my dad was considering this option. I insisted on calling 911 because I was scared to sleep in the basement after that) <br /><br />Now, if I could just get the neighbors to quit parking at the t-intersection down the street (on a curve!) to actually park in their empty driveways so that when the fire engines arrive, they can actually get onto our street without having to resort to using the fire engine to push the parked cars off the roads....that didnt happen last night, but I've seen it happen in our old neighborhood once) <br /><br />We're shopping for a new (vented) fireplace, or maybe another option for keeping my basement warm...and at least one of my parents will probably be getting fire extinguishers for Christmas. (no real clue what to get people this year) <br /><br />At least we know the smoke detectors work! (and that there's no way in hell to sleep while one of those is rupturing your eardrums) <br /><br /><br />Oh, and one of our theories about what happened. We (parents, and my aunt across the street) all have heat pumps. In the winter, the heat pump keeps the house warm until the temperature drops below 20 degrees (remember, I mentioned a few paragraphs ago how cold it was last night?) When the temperature gets below 20 degrees the heat pump shuts off, and the gas furnace will kick on. Last night was the first time that my aunt's furnace had been on since it was installed. She and her heating company that she hired to do the install, think that her furnace was burning off some residual chemicals or dust from the manufacture of her furnace, and that's what caused the smoke in her house and was making her sick. <br /><br />The gas company guy that the OFD called to our house last night thought that the fireplace was malfunctioning and that when the gas furnace in the store room came on, that it was sucking up more of the oxygen in the room, and that caused the fireplace to not burn off all the gas or something (again, I'm not sure of the physics behind all this) and the flame in the fireplace was huge because it was trying to suck up a ton of air or something and was competing with the furnace or something.<br /><br />So, we're probably going to get a vented fireplace now, or a nice snazzy electric one that wont try to kill us.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">EDITED TO ADD:</span><br /><br />Ok, I checked the gas fireplace earlier, because we couldnt figure out a logical reason for what happened last night, and I think we figured out what happened. <br /><br />We almost could have had a very serious fire. Apparently, a couple of weeks ago when the heating/air conditioning company came to check the furnace, we had the guy turn on the pilot to that fireplace. I told him to set the fireplace to lowest setting. (it has a knob that says "Low" and "High". He was supposed to set it to low. <br /><br />I checked it earlier, and it's set to nearly the highest setting. Which I dont understand quite why that is. There's a tick-mark on the thing to show which way to turn the knob for high or low. <br /><br />So, we very nearly got flash fried last night. And it's really a good thing that my dad turned off that gas before the fire department got here. I found scorch marks on the outside of the fireplace. <br /><br />The fireplace is at the bottom of the stairs and the heat had gone up the stairs, and the upstairs was so hot last night, that I'd be willing to bet that it was probably in the high 80s or low 90s upstairs. <br /><br />We're definitely going to be replacing this fireplace with something that's got a better set-up for a thermostat or at least an easier to get to emergency shut off of some sort. <br /><br />Either that, or we'll get a nice decorative ELECTRIC fireplace in the basement. Something pretty with no real flames inside of it. <br /><br />I'm going to go freak out a little bit about how scary this has gotten after the fact now...and I think I'll start pricing fire extinguishers and see if I can get enough to have one in every room of the house...<br /><br />CHECK YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS!!Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-92090857264770936682008-11-06T10:25:00.000-06:002008-11-06T10:28:02.164-06:00I like this guy!<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E-JTd-8vUdw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E-JTd-8vUdw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <P> http://www.youtube.com/user/machosauceproductionErin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-36843027912717713612008-11-05T02:28:00.000-06:002008-11-05T02:34:09.250-06:00John McCain is a Class Act!I'm extremely impressed with John McCain. Sad that he lost the election, but impressed with him. <br /><br />He didnt descend into a whiny hissy fit like the last two losers of a Presidential election. John McCain showed a lot of class, and was very dignified in how he conceded the election to Obama. <br /><br />I'm not looking forward to the next four years, but at least John McCain showed us that he's a true gentleman. <br /><br /><br />I cant wait till 2012. I'm voting for Mitt Romney like I wanted to this year. (hope Mitt runs!)Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15177336.post-67215692347140105282008-10-31T00:10:00.000-06:002008-10-31T00:13:26.355-06:00I found it!I found my<a href="http://iamtotallyobsessedwithyarn.blogspot.com/2008/09/ok-this-is-weird-and-its-making-me-bit.html"> missing crochet book</a> last night. <br /><br />Now I can relax and stop looking for the damn thing. I'm probably missing something else now that needs finding.Erin Lindseyhttps://plus.google.com/105922552442128900501noreply@blogger.com0